Ex Taipei Walker II -- Day 04 Taipei LongShan Temple + XiMenDing

Ex Taipei Walker II --- Day 04 LongShan Temple + XiMenDing

Day 04 was rather relaxing and less hectic , Compared to Day 03 's travelling up Yangmingshan

We had covered most of the "siong" destinations that required lots of energy , like Taroko Gorge in Day 2 , and YangMingShan Nature Reserve in Day 3 .. So Day 04 Was Rest & Relax in Taipei ...

After Breakfast ...Zu3 Ren4 ( Hotel Manager) sent us to LongShan Si ( very very old Temple with long history.). We passed by the Presidential Building enroute to the temple

Everything was back to normal , compared to the "Red Army's Tian Xia Wei Gong movement in August . Then , the common people of Taiwan gathered around , dressed in Red , and surrounded the Presidential Building , Demanding that their Allegedly Corrupted President Chen Shui Bian Step DOWN !

Zu3 Ren4 was Forever So pissed and passionate whenever he talked about kicking Chen Shui Bian OFF his Seat. lolz ... He told us alot more stories of the Red movement .. and we were thinking How fun it would have been , to be in Taipei during August to Sept 2006. Lolz ... Go there be Kaypoh , Support Zu Ren and other Taiwanese , HOW FUN !

Security is less tight now ... only Military Policemen with their Taiwan versions of the M-16s ( TK-91) and other barricades. Zu3 Ren4 said that they used to ban vehicles from driving near the building and they used to have CCTVs and Snipers positioned @ strategic positions. Now the snipers relax in one corner ...haha .

Reached LongShanSi .. nothing Impressive on the outside ... But Nei You Qian Kun .. ( more than meets the eye) ... The interior of the 100+ Year Old temple was very majestic...LOoks much better than our WaterLoo Street Guanyin Temple ...

It was said that during the Japanese occupation In taiwan ... The Allied forces dropped bombs on Taiwan .. a 200kg bomb dropped on the temple .. but miraculously .. the main temple didnt suffer any visible damages ... I had wanted to come here during the 1st Taipei trip in July 2006 , but could only come here during the 2nd trip in December 2006... Finally got to See this Majestic temple near Hua Xi Alley where all the snakes are ...


They had a nice mini waterfall with lots of Japanese Koi ... and we took some nice nice fotos there ...

We then proceeded to walk down the streets of Taipei ... to Go Xi-Men-Ding ... Their Much more Hip Version of Our Boring Orchard Road ....

It Was Their Polling Day for their Taipei Mayor Elections. LoLz ... Taiwan Politics and Politicians are juz SoOo interesting ...

Caption on Picture above with Baby : Let the Taipei Women bear children without worries or Fear ( about being unable to raise the child ) ... Let The Taiwanese Mothers See the Future. Hidden Message ... Vote for the #17 Candidate ... See the #17 @ the right bottom Corner.

Hahah .. They focus on one particular issue that hits most Taipei Residents .. then promise to make changes to existing policies ... Juz to get that vote . SoOoo DiFFerenT from Singapore ??

Candidate #17 Du Shu Guan Calls herself " Tu Shu Guan " Library .. in order to get voters to remember her name .. and also uses The former President Lee Teng Hui to endorse her ... roflolz ..

The 3 girls were very excited ... as After our 1st Taipei trip ... They Decided that they must dress More "Hip Hip Hurray" the next time they come back to XiMenDing ...

All are Hiao Hiaoz liaoz ...Indeed Xi Men Ding is one of the most happening places to go in Taipei ...its one of their most trendy places to go , where Stars & celebrities hold their CD launches .. performances , where Taiwan hosts like XiaoZhu , XiaoGui , Wu Zhong Xian and some other hosts go to interview people ..and play games on the streets .. Indeed a very vibrant place to be in ...

We knew Xi Men Ding well ... And we went back excitedly to try out our Favourite TaMaGoYa " Dan Dan wu " TaMaGoYa Egghouse ... an egg-themed restaurant with lots of nice food.

The Food was still quite Yummy ... and we tried new dishes ... Hahah ... There was a cute cute weet U weet Waitress with a Damn "Cute Kawaii neh !!" voice ... soOOooO Damn Sweet that You could get Diabetes from hearing her voice. She looked juz like a anime Character + her sweet voice ... Oh ma god ... I think she fits well into a Hentai Anime ... will blur any guy silly ..

Updated a Video Clip on Youtube .. to Show how crowded XiMenTing is ... Uber Happening .. Uber Lively .. So many more videos to upload ... but lazy lah .

This Old Busker really really talented . He made his own musical instruments , tied the cymbals and drums via a string to his feet. With every tap of his foot , he danced to his own beats, with the Erhu , he entertained hundreds of us with old traditional songs.

REally Respect this old man ...playing non stop ..Super good stamina , dancing and singing in the cold cold weather .. Oh yes it was cold ... Yet he played on , to the requests of the audiences , who rewarded him with NT$100 notes. Tough job man...

** Btw .. the big sized guy in green vest in this video is siao siao one .. I think we saw him @ Shih-Lin one of those nights.. and he was smiling @ everyone , staring @ their food .

We walked around , stumbled upon a Drama Serial launch , by CLUB 183 + MingDao .. I recognised their faces , but dun know who is who , Who is MingDao ?

Anyway , the queue was damn short , numbered @ most 100 fans . We joined the queue easily... waited 10 mins and the "Stars" came. And in less than 5 minutes , We got ourselves into the shop to get their signatures.

Damn Bloody LOUSY celebrities .. So Hao Lianz ... They Juz Came ... Gave fake Smiles ... and waved to Nobody in particular ...

We purposely delayed til we were the last ones to sign .. but they still didnt allow Nana & WeeWee to Take photographs with them even though they said they were Singaporean Fans/ Tourists .. All they gave was a reason of "Copyright" .

What the Hell . I was so pissed that I told off one of their staff . I told her in Fluent Chinese ( haha ) that I can understand if We took photos of them as a group alone .. to sell to fans . But If The photographs INCLUDED the girls ... Who Would wanna buy the photo ? How to call themselves Artistes ? She got dumbfounded.

Anyway ... 2 happy girls with 2 CDs by a BooBoo Lousy Group .

Walked around in XiMenDing In search of the famous Ah Zong Mee Sua ... Finally found it and we realised Weewee's dream of Having Ah Zong Mee Sua in XiMenDing .

It was really crowded and the queue was long . Everyone was standing around the stall , having piping hot bowls of MeeSua ... Made a dare with Weewee to Squat and eat by the roadside if we found the stall ... and We SQUATTED !! Hmmz .. Not so bad .. but not that fantastic either ... hahah , I am not a fan of Mee Sua ...

The Night wasnT over Yet!!

Because ... Because ... WE WENT BACK TO SHIH-LIN NIGHT MARKET again !!

We have been to many night Markets in Taipei before :

But the best that we love is Shih-Lin ... Yeah Yeah Yeah ..

Went back to the Shooting Stall . The skinny ah lian Stall assistant had found what I had requested her to find a few days back ! In July ... I was @ the stall shooting down balloons , and won "Si Gin na" back for Sunshine ... and this time round , she recognised me and excitedly told me got new "Si Gin na " ... but I told her I wanted the popular MOnoKoroBo for SuNshine ...

And We got it !!! Hahaha ... the stall assistant happy ... we also happy nehz ...

Went around with Shawna's taiwanese friend Andy ..... Played some more games ..like trying to shoot balloons with bow & Arrow ... Baseball throw ... and trying to shoot down a toilet paper holding a NT$1000 note . LOLz ... Now u know why ShihLin Night Market is So fun ?

Day 04 Total Hours clocked = 16 hours .

I Miss Taipei !!

*boring ... CNY coming to an end soon ...

XiaoMaGe Signing out ...

CNY 2007 is Good !!!

I tell You ... this CNY is Good !!! really really Good !!

Huat ah !!! Photos of food , loved ones .. coming up soon ! + Day 04 Taipei Walker II ...

Warmest Regards ,
XiaoMaGe HUAT AH !!!

Ex Taipei Walker II Day 03 --- YangMingShan

Ex Taipei Walker II Day 03 -- YangMingShan + WuFenPu


Sorry to everyone ( those who scolded me to update my blog ) ... Sorry for delaying Day 03 ... been busy with tests , Shooting and packing my Pig-sty in prep for CNY ... So been delayed ...


Anyway ... DAY 03 !!

After Day 02 's 17 hour Madness , we had a good night's rest ..to recharge for Day 03 !

Woke up @ 9am ++ to enjoy our 1st OneStar Breakfast of the trip ....

Things have changed ... OneStar now has a pantry .. and a buffet-style breakfast !!!

They used to "ta bao" breakfast to our room ... but now they have western breakfast and Chinese-styled porridge for us to choose @ the pantry ..

There is also a computer terminal for hotel guests who do not have a Laptop to surf in their rooms ... ( but we did ! we brought our own laptops ... and enjoyed surfing every night !! )

Our dear "Zu Ren" Hotel Manager was planning to take the day oFF ... to drive us on his own free time around Taipei .. but he couldnt ...

So he used OFFICIAL TIME to drive us ( out of his boundary ) ... he drove us all the way out to YangMingShan .. and drove us to the Hotspring to enjoy an early morning Hotspring bath !

Along the way , we saw hardworking people eagerly pulling votes for the Taipei Mayor Elections ...Damn passionate people ...

Zu Ren drove us up to Liu-Gu ( 6th grade ) HotSpring bathhouse ... Got 1st - 7th grade bath houses ... 1st grade is the lousiest grade ... @ the bottom of the hills ... They have nice nice views .. but the hotspring water is actually filtered hotspring water from the top of the hills , from other bath houses ( 6th & 7th grade ) ... They just add sulphur powder to enhance the smell of the sulphur to make it more authentic ... Now We know ..

The indoor hotspring bath was really cheap @ NT$300 ( S$15 per room ) and you could soak as long as you like ... Compared to the other low-grade hotsprings using recycled water charging @ NT$3000 ++ for a nice view + recycled water ... this was really the common Taiwanese Hotspring Bathhouse ...


You can see two partitions in this picture ... the one I am soaking in ... is HOT spring water ...stinks of pungent sulphur .. and the water is really milky ... milky from the sulphur ... while the other pool is for bathing ..and the water is DAMN COLD !!


I gek kiang ... soak in hot water .. immediately switch to icy chilly mountain water .... Wah ... I felt giddy and light-headed ... buay tahan ... could really feel the blood running anyhow in the vessels .. half hot half cold ... cannot make it ...



After a good bath .... we decided to Go YangMingShan .... And we ACTUALLY DIDNT REALISE that we were already @ YangMingShan ... near the YangMingShan National park !

Enroute to YangMingShan National Park... we climb climb climb .. based on instinct ... with no map for reference ... But a kind-hearted motorist kindly showed us the way up ...

We stumbled upon "Generalissimo" Chiang Kai Shek 's hill-top Office .. a series of nice cottages for him and his bodyguards ...

The cottages have been converted into an art museum and some art studios for the local artists .. I guess we were really quite lucky to stumble upon this quiet arty place ..that holds historical value ...

After some much climbing up a slope ... we managed to find the entrance to YangMingShan National Park !!! It was a sunny but windy day ... ( Note the HOT Sunny weather now ! )

We walked around and explored the uber big National Park !! OH MY GOD !! Big Big mountain ridges !!

To our pleasant surprise , we found a statue of " Uncle YangMing " ... Mr Wang Yang Ming ... YangMingShan was simply fresh Air All around ...

We saw a little squirrel , we saw a little stream with really cooling water flowing down ...( so cooling I was tempted to slurp it ) ...a garden full of falling leaves in anticipation of the coming winter ...

The bright sunny yet windy weather was really enjoyable ! and the girls enjoyed the unique tapioca , peanut, lime ice-cream ... Really Yummy !!

The Ice-cream auntie told us abt the YMS waterfall ... and so We went in search of the waterfall !!

After the waterfall , we managed to grab a bus up to the peak of YangMingShan ... That was the REAL ADVENTURE !!!!

The Busfare was NT$15 per person ... and it sent us right up to the peak !

The Journey up was really REALLY REALLY SCARY !!! As the bus drove up the winding roads of YMS ... the fog started to blur up the road ahead !! There were only 4 of us + the bus driver ... and we started to get worried !!

BUT THE UNCLE DIDNT SLOW DOWN !! Instead ... he accelerated !! and the girls started to chatter and yak yak yak nervously !!

The Fog was getting so bad that we couldnt see the vehicle DIRECTLY in FRONT OF US except for its tail-lights .. but the driver STILL DIDNT SLOW DOWN !! We then realised he followed the road markings blindly on the road ... to guide the bus up ...

We finally reached the peak of YMS , @ a place called XiaoYouKeng ... It was really really cold and misty ... vast difference from the bottom of YMS ... and I finally had the chance to use my windbreaker .... 811 metres above SeaLevel ... Foggy , Cold , Misty and EXCITING !!! ( Fotos are original and unedited ) ... Zu Ren even told us that if we were lucky ... It would actually Snow on YMS !!

After some much enjoyment up @ XiaoYouKeng ... it was time to go DH downhill ... as it was getting dark @ 1600H ++ ( early dusk during winter ) ..

We GOT CAUGHT IN A BLOODY JAM FOR 1.5 hours ... that really got us all shagged ... and we took naps on the bus .

We were SO HUNGRY we decided to alight @ Shih Lin Night Market again !! hoHoHo !! It is really our favourite NightMarket in Taipei !! With the best food , best entertainment Taipei has to oFfer !!

ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS HOTPLATE Beef steak , Pork Chop Spaghetti , that comes with a soup and drink @ only NT$120 Only !! S$6 ... and it is yummy !!!

Took their MRT .... really really impressed ... We saw a PHENOMENON that would put us Singaporeans to shame !! OH MY GOD !!

The Taiwanese actually queue up in orderly manners to board the train !! BOARDING THE train during Peak hour was a breeze ( 1830 Hours PEAK hour ) ... They waited for the passengers to alight before they boarded the train ! Everyone juz stood within the demarcated zones !!

And there was this life-saving gantry that our Dear SMRT time and time refused to install , that clearly prevented people from falling / climbing over .... Oh man .. with such order and civic-minded in Taiwan .. who would wanna jump traintracks ??

Anyway ... we went to WuFenPu ... the Most Scariest Place that I hate everytime we go Taipei .... The 1st Taipei tripin July 2006 , we went to WufenPu and Got stuck there in the Typhoon weather for nearly 4 hours ??



This time round Dec 2006 was slightly better because it was winter season ... The gals had lesser choices to choose from ... So they spent about 2.5 hours there ... and Poor Marcus juz stone there everytime ...



The girls' Heaven became Marcus's Hell ... Lots of women's clothes @ Uber cheap prices ( 1 whole set of clothes @ S$5.00 only ) ... and very FASHIONABLE !! Just like what you would See in Bugis !


Total Hours Clocked for Day 03 >> 14 hours


** XiaoMaGe wishes Everyone a Very Happy and Prosperous NEW YEAR !! **

HUAT AH !!!!!!!